a dictionary of colour a lexicon of the language of colour

Any attempt to define any particular colour merely by means of words is doomed to failure.. We can illustrate the general nature of any particular colour by reference to an object having

A L E X I C O N O F T H E L A N G U A G E O F C O L O U R

A D I C T I O N A R Y O F

COLOUR

Inside front cover

A L E X I C O N O F T H E L A N G U A G E O F C O L O U R

A D I C T I O N A R Y O F

COLOUR

First published by Thorogood Publishing Ltd

2003 First paperback edition 2004.

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colour love the most

The purest and most thoughtful minds are

those which

JOHN RUSKIN (1819-1900)

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Introduction 1

References and abbreviations 6

Dictionary entries 8

Appendix one: Colour phrases 433

Appendix two: The colours in alphabetical order 455

Appendix three: The colours in colour order 480

Appendix four: Adjectives of colour 505

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Any attempt to define any particular colour merely by means of words is doomed

to failure We can illustrate the general nature of any particular colour by reference

to an object having the same quality (which begs the question) or by reference

to its wavelength (which is of interest only as a matter of physics) or by reference

to another colour (which becomes circular) For example, ‘Purple’ is defined in the new Oxford Dictionary as ‘a colour intermediate between red and blue’ Blue

is defined as ‘a colour intermediate between green and violet’ and violet is ‘a bluish-purple colour’.

This work variously employs each of the above methods, but not with a view toproviding definitions of colours The vocabulary of colour is far too imprecise tomake that objective a realistic one The best way to indicate the ‘meaning’ of aparticular colour word is to display its actual colour Many works have embarked

on that task including, in particular, Maerz and Paul (A Maerz and M R Paul, A

Dictionary of Color 3rd Edition, New York, McGraw Hill, 1953) However, there

is an infinite number of colours and shades, hues and tints (some suggest as many

as 16 million) so that it would obviously not be possible to provide each of themwith a distinct name Furthermore, those colour descriptions which do exist donot have a sufficiently exact meaning to enable any colour to be determined withprecision No colour description in word form can convey the information necessary

to enable the precise shade and tone to be identified Indeed, some colour namesincluded in this Dictionary have several different (and sometimes conflicting)meanings This is only partly due to the fact that our language is in a constantstate of flux It is also as a result of the fact that the perception of colour is a highlysubjective matter Colour is nothing without sight and sight is the only sense bywhich we can experience colour We experience most other stimulae through two

or more senses each corroborating the other We can, for example, both hear andfeel sound and we can see, feel and smell heat We do not have that support systemwith colour Furthermore, what I interpret as being green in colour may occur

to you as blue

Rather, the purpose of this work is to provide a treasury of words of, or concerningcolour, and to do so in a way which is inviting enough to encourage readers todabble

Single subject dictionaries are grossly under-utilised, particularly as an introduction

to the subject All too frequently this powerful resource is dusted down and used

in a one-off search for a definition after which it is immediately returned to itsplace on the shelf A good dictionary should be regarded as a foreign land callingout for exploration and to which each visit is a journey of discovery, each dictionaryentry drawing one onto the next, sucking in the reader and making it difficult forhim to leave I hope that this work might serve just such a purpose and will attractvisitors to stay and explore rather than merely to pay a flying visit

I would hope that this Dictionary, touching on the whole spectrum of colourrelevance, will serve as an invaluable resource for art students and students ofcolour, although it is neither a technical exposition of the many facets of colournor a guide on how to use colour

Much of what colour has to offer might appear to some of us as superficial andeven banal It might be thought that colour merely constitutes an alternative toblack and white Colour may merely be associated with fripperies such as cosmeticsand fashion or with football shirts, the colour of the car or decorating the hall.Does colour really matter? Does it really deserve study and attention?

Well, yes it does Not only is colour the stuff of art and a vital constituent of oureveryday lives, but without it the most important discoveries and advancements

of the 20th century would not have been possible As Leonard Shlain in Art &

Physics, New York, Morrow, 1991 explains, colour has provided the key which

has made it possible for scientists to determine the elements of distant stars; toverify that our universe is expanding; to understand electro-magnetic fields; topenetrate the complexities of quantum mechanics and to work out the composition

to highlight differences and to make it easier to assimilate information whether

in written form or on a computer or monitor Colour is used as a means ofdiagnosing illness or indicating the seriousness of a particular medical condition.Doctors have, for example, recently discovered that the colour of the spit of patientscan show the severity of their lung disease

In advertising and marketing, colour is used to grab our attention and to stimulate

us by reference to the many psychological and physiological responses to colour,

as well as the appeal which colour provides for our emotions We all instinctivelyappreciate the dimension which colour can bring to product packaging and which

it is difficult to create by any other means Colour can serve to reinforce the identity

of products, trademarks, logos and brand images and to create pleasing orfavourable associations in the minds of consumers

Colours are used to indicate those prisoners who are considered prone to escape;

to differentiate one team from another in all manner of sporting activities; to enable

us to play snooker and card games Colour is used as a means of indicating status– for example, purple for nobility – and colour has throughout time served as apotent source of symbolism in all cultures

In short, colour is a powerful shorthand for conveying ideas and information

In deciding on the parameters of this work it soon became apparent to me that

I could not limit myself merely to words which indicate or touch upon colour.Colour cannot exist without light Hence, I have incorporated all the words I can

find which refer to light or illumination That, of course, naturally leads onto words

of darkness and to words of shadow and obscurity, and thence to words indicating

markings or patterns, all of which I have sought to include I have, however, stopped

short of including entries for animals, plants and flowers whose names include

a colour since there are too many of these I have also held back from includingthe plethora of fancy names created by paint manufacturers and others Almostall the colours in this vocabulary can be found in English dictionaries

The extent to which colour occupies and influences us can be illustrated byreference to the large number of common phrases referring to colour used in

daily speech, many of which are included in Appendix one.

I would hope that this work might also be used as a resource for wordsmiths,

crossword addicts and word game aficionados for whom Appendix two and

Appendix three with their lists of colours may prove useful The Times Crossword

of Friday 22 October 1999, for example, had two consecutive clues:

• ‘Earthy colour of old church attracting note’; and

• ‘Red pigment in drops sprayed around house’

Even the recognition that these clues indicate colourwords would not make it

easy to find the answers (ochre and rhodopsin).

This work also serves as an observer of the way colourwords are used in syntax.Writers always need ideas and refreshment and it is hoped that this Dictionarymight help to provide that elusive spark of inspiration vital to keep the creativeprocess going, particularly for those writing on subjects such as art, design,fashion, furnishings, make-up or gardening Finding the precise colour adjectivewhere there are so many nuances, might be made easier by referring to the list

in Appendix three.

Colour is involved in everything we do during our working hours and eveninvades our dreams But what is colour? There have been many theories overthe centuries as to the exact nature of colour but none of them is adequate toexplain all aspects of what colour is The position is further complicated by thefact that the dynamics of surface colour are very different from those principlesgoverning coloured light

Colour is the sensation resulting from the light of different wavelengths reachingour eyes The colour of any object is determined by the extent of the absorption

of photons by its atoms A black object absorbs nearly all the light directed onto

it whereas a white object reflects most of that light A coloured object reactsselectively to light energy – it absorbs protons of some wavelengths and reflectsothers An object which is green in colour, for example, will absorb photons fromthe red to yellow range of the spectrum and reflect (thus enabling us to detectthem) photons on the green to violet range The selection process will depend

on the particular pigments contained in that object Caretonoids, for example,reflect long wavelengths and absorb short wavelengths, so as to produce an orange

or pinkish colour Haemoglobin produces red Anthocyanin produces the colour

of rhubarb and beetroot Dyes and paints are based on this idea Some dyes form

a new compound with the molecules of the subject matter they are being used

to colour

It is my intention that this work with its panoply of colourwords will provide both

an instructive and an entertaining opportunity to appreciate the richness of colourand its many diverse applications through the ages and across the disciplines.The study of colour and colour theory involves reference to many fields of study

A thorough investigation of the subject will involve an understanding of physicsand chemistry, biology, medicine, the art of healing, computer sciences,mathematics, psychology, physiology, philosophy, literature, art; the history ofart, aesthetics, heraldry, lexicography and language This short work refers insome measure to each of these disciplines and many more, but concentrates onthe last of them in celebration of our magnificent language

I owe a debt of gratitude to my wife Linda for her unswerving encouragementand for indulging my obsession to write this Dictionary My thanks also to Mark,Emma and Odette Paterson, Robert Glick, Amanda Blakeley, Eddie Cohen andNeill Ross for their enthusiasm and additional ideas.

Ian Paterson, April 2003

speak Colours

languages

References and abbreviations

Albers Josef Albers, ‘Interaction of Colour’ Yale University,

1975

Ball Philip Ball, ‘Bright Earth The Invention of Colour’,

Viking, 2001

Chambers ‘Chambers English Dictionary’ W.R Chambers and

Cambridge University Press, 7th Edition, 1988.Fielding ‘A Dictionary of Colour’, 1854

Gage A number of references to John Gage’s: ‘Colour and

Culture’ Thames and Hudson, 1993 and ‘Colour andMeaning’, Thames and Hudson, 1999

Maerz & Paul A Maerz and M.R Paul, ‘A Dictionary of Colour’, 3rd

Edition New York, McGraw Hill, 1953

OED ‘The Oxford English Dictionary’, 2nd Edition, Oxford

University Press, CD Rom, 2002

Partridge Eric Partridge, ‘Name into Word’, Secker and Warburg,

Blank

n aal

A red dye from the plant of the same name related to the madder plant (and a

useful word for word game players)

The light green colour of the potent liqueur of the same name which was banned

in France in 1915 because of its effect on health and the performance of Frenchtroops at the beginning of WW1 It continues to be banned in France and in the

US but is allowed in the UK where it has been imported since 1998 The liqueurtakes on a milky colour when water is added

Gloomy or dark Derived from Acheron which according to Homer was one of

the rivers of Hell – its waters having a deathly foreboding appearance ‘Stygian’(in reference to the infernal River Styx of Greek mythology) has a similar meaning

Free from colour, uncoloured, colourless From the Greek

a- without and chroma-colour.

n achromatic colour

A colour, such as white, black or grey, which lacks hue White, black and grey

are technically not regarded as colours having regard to the absence of hue

n acid colours

Colorants such as chromotrope, chrome brown, chromogen, acid green and

alizarin yellow used as dyestuffs

Describing fabric which has been bleached to give the appearance of being worn

or faded; particularly denim used for jeans – referred to as ‘distressed denim’.Similar results can be obtained by other processes to produce fashion itemsreferred to as ‘stonewashed’, ‘bleached’, ‘prewashed’ or having an ‘antique look’

c acid yellow

A medium yellow

is the binder used to hold the pigment together Almost all acrylic paints are synthetic They include colours such as benzimidazolone orange, dioxazine

purple, indanthrene blue and quinacridone red.

or additive primary colours) in colour television broadcasting or on a colour

monitor will produce white light by the additive process The process of mixinglight of two different colours always produces a result which is lighter than its

n additive primary colours

Red, green and blue See primary colours.

n adjacent colours

Colours which are next to each other on the colour wheel or on a painting or

design etc The placement of two colours next to each other often results in bothhues taking on a different appearance so that, to take one example, red next toyellow makes the red turn towards purple and the yellow appear green

c adobe

Pinkish-red; probably so called after the sun-dried bricks of the same name used

in Latin American countries; also ‘adobe red’

vb adorn; to

To decorate or beautify something often by means of colour Synonyms includedecorate, beautify, grace, emblazon, embellish, ornament, deck, bedeck, enhance,enrich, festoon, elaborate, dress, bedaub, beset, deck out, bedizen, trim, gild, trapout, accoutre, prettify, spruce up, rig out, trick out, garnish, crown, paint, colour

c Adrianople red

A red colour also called Turkey red.

a adularescent

Bluish According to Stormonth’s English Dictionary 1884 – having the whitish

sheen of moonstone found on Mount Adula in Switzerland

Having the colour of verdigris or copper-rust.

pr aethio, aetho, aethrio (G)

Bright, firy

c african violet

The pinkish violet of the flower of the same name

adv after dark

An ambiguous expression meaning after it has become dark rather than after it has ceased to be dark.

found to be complementary to the after-image See also complementary colours and accidental colour.

n Agent Orange

The extremely toxic defoliant used by the US during the Vietnam

war Named not by virtue of the colour of the substance but

in reference to the orange stripe on its container

adv aglow

In the glow of a warm colour

c Air Force blue

A dark blue colour The blue adopted by the Royal Air Force in 1919

Akin to alabaster in its whiteness and the smoothness of its texture Shakespeare’s

Richard III, Act 4 Scene 3 ‘Gentle babes girdling one another Within their alabaster innocent arms’.

Albatross is probably a mistaken version of ‘Alcatraz’ a Portuguese word for the

sea-fowl (and the origin of the the name of the prison island off San Francisco).Curiously, although the Alcatraz was black in colour the word mutated to ‘albatross’

to describe the white petrel of Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner gaining credibility

on its journey from the ‘alb’ prefix meaning white

A person or animal having no colouring pigment in the skin, hair or eyes; plants

whose leaves do not develop chlorophyll Hence, ‘albiness’, a female albino.

The reddish orange body dye from the Oriental plant of the same name which

is of the same family as the European alkanet plant.

n aldehyde green

A green dye also referred to as emeraldine.

c alesan

A light chestnut colour

n alexandrite

A valuable gemstone named after Tsar Alexander II of Russia Alexandrite is green

in colour but appears columbine-red in artificial light It has colour shifts fromgreen to orange-yellow to red according to the crystal direction

c Algerian

A yellowish brown

c Alice blue

US term for a greenish-blue after Alice the wife of Theodore Roosevelt As AliceBlue,

one of the 140 colours in the X11 Color Set It has hex code #F0F8FF.

n alizarin, alizarine

A synthetic red dye identified in 1820 and replacing the natural red dye from the

root of the madder plant It produces crimsons, greens and blues and other shades depending on the mordant used, in particular, alizarin crimson Produced

artificially since 1868 after which vineyards began to replace the redundant madderfields of Europe This was the first natural pigment to be made synthetically Alizarin

dyes replaced aniline dyes but were themselves replaced in 1958 by quinacridones which have greater lightfastness.

An ancient red or orange dye from the roots of the Mediterranean plant of the

same name and of the same genus as the alcanna Also called ‘anchusa’ See

henna.

n alkannin

A natural bronze-coloured pigment

The method of painting where the work is finished at one session and without

any preliminary underdrawing or underpainting.

‘all’ is often used in conjunction with a particular colour to indicate an absence

of any colour other than the one indicated

c almagra

Deep red ochre found in Spain

c almond

Pink or yellowish-brown as in almond blossom; sometimes

the greyish-green colour of the underside of the leaves of the

almond tree Used to describe a variety of colours

c amber

The clear yellow brown or reddish orange of the stone, amber; ‘amber-colour’d

raven’ Shakespeare’s Loves Labours Lost Act4 Scene3 Amber as a stone varies

in colour and the colour term embraces a wide variety of shades

Violet-purple or purplish-blue (particularly in heraldry); from the Greek meaning

‘preventing intoxication’ a characteristic once ascribed to the stone of the samename

n Ångström

The unit of measurement of the wavelength of light named after the physicist A

J Ångström (1814-1874) largely replaced by the nanometre.

n anil

The blue dye now called indigo ‘Anil’ comes from the Sanskrit word ‘nila’ meaning

dark blue which is also the root of the word ‘lilac’

n aniline

The alcohol and coal-tar base of many different kinds of dyes, in particular, ‘aniline

black’ and Perkin’s mauve which was one of the first synthetic dyes to be

developed; descriptive of dyes and pigments made with aniline Aniline dyes are

not as fast as the azo dyes which succeeded them Hence aniline red (1859), aniline

violet (1860) and aniline blue (1862) the manufacture of which kickstarted thechemical industry and in particular the companies we now know as Bayer, Ciba-Geigy and BASF

n aniline leather

Leather which has been dyed with aniline dyestuff rather than by means of

pigment and which, as a result, brings out the natural grain of the leather

c aniline red

See aniline, fuchsine and magenta.

n anomalscope

Testing equipment used to diagnose the existence of colour-blindness and to

measure its severity

n anotta, anotto, anatto, anato, anatta, annatto,

arnotto, arnatto, achiote, achote, notty

A natural orange-red dye from Central America; also used as a food additive forcolouring cheese and margarine (annatto E160(b))

c antelope

The colour of the antelope Having regard to the fact that there are so manydifferent varieties of antelope and that they have a wide range of differentcolourings and markings this definition is not very helpful! Perhaps referring to

a dusky brown beige or a pale bronze gold colour

A chemical compound related to anthracene and used to manufacture alizarin

and colours such as alizarin blue

n anthraquinone colorants

A class of dye made from anthraquinone used to dye textiles including

anthraquinone blue

n antimony

A bluish white pigment from the toxic metallic element of the same name once

used as a cosmetic for the eyelids.

A yellowish white colour adopted as a colour name by Web page creators on

the Internet with hex code #FAEBD7 See X11 Color Set.

c Antwerp blue

A greenish blue variety of Prussian blue; also Antwerp brown and Antwerp red.

a apatetic

Camouflaged; in zoology, having colours similar to those of a different species

See cryptic colouring.

is dangerous or poisonous, for example, the Eyed Hawk-Moth which has markings

on its wings which look like large eyes See cryptic colouring.

A light greenish-blue; a colour name adopted by Web page creators on the Internet

with hex code #OOFFF See X11 Color Set The colour aqua was one of the many

different colours in which lamp-posts in Notting Hill were painted for the 1999Carnival

An ancient purple dye made from the shellfish murex trunculus referred to in

Judges viii:26 and rediscovered in 1998.

n argyria, argyrism

Pigmentation of the skin caused by silver poisoning or taking medicine containingsilver

n art masking fluid

A compound made from an easily removable rubber latex which can be applied

to a particular area when painting a watercolour to enable that area to retain itsbackground colour once the compound is removed

c artichoke green

The yellowish-green colour of the artichoke

n artificial colours

Colours produced by a chemical process and not found in nature, for example,

viridian Artificial pigments first came into commercial production in 1856 See pigment.

n artificial daylight or light

Light produced by man

A light yellow mentioned in Louis de Berniere’s Captain Corellis Mandolin (also

known as Hansa yellow and cadmium yellow) Arylide is an aromatic compound Also diarylide yellow and azo.

n ASCII Purple

The new supercomputer to be built by IBM capable of carrying

out 100 thousand billion calculations each second Its sister

‘Blue Gene/L’ will be even more powerful

Having the same colour as ash; having a very pale complexion; like ash, grey,

pale; whitish grey

The American Society for Testing and Materials founded in 1898 and now known

as ASTM International providing standards in many applications in over 130industries including artists’ colours which are coded according to their

lightfastness or permanence (Standard D4302-90) A colour with a 1 or 2 rating

is the most permanent See Blue Wool Scale.

pr atr-, atri-, atro- (L)

Black; from the Latin ater ‘black’ The words ‘atrocious’, ‘atrabilious’ (melancholy) and possibly ‘atrium’ (originally, says World Wide Words, the blackened walls

of a hall where there was a central fire but no chimney) are also derived fromthis root

n atrament, atramentum

Black ink Any black colorant A very dark brown pigment described by Pliny

and produced from calcined bones In the ancient world atramentum librarium was used as writing ink; atramentum sutorium for dyeing shoe leather and

atramentum pictorium was used by artists as a varnish.

a au bleu

A term applied to fish poached in stock made from root vegetables, vinegar or

wine which gives it a blue tinge For example, truite au bleu.

French, gratiner, to brown.

A brownish-red or sometimes golden-brown colour especially as regards hair

Auburn derives from the Latin albus meaning ‘white’ and originally indicated a

yellowish or brownish white colour Its meaning changed during the 16th centurywhen (perhaps because it was sometimes spelt ‘abrun’) it came to be associatedwith the colour brown

n audition colorée

See synæsthesia and colour hearing.

pr aur-, auri-, auro-, aurat- (L)

Gold, golden

n auramine

A yellow dye

An adjective used in the fashion trade to describe those colours considered to

be appropriate for wear in autumn and in colour psychology to classify anddifferentiate between certain colour tones in their appropriateness for differentpersonality types

to as ‘fall foliage’ The process occurs by reason of leaves in the fall being sealed

off from moisture giving rise to the chlorophyll in them breaking down Their

green colour thus gradually becomes masked by yellow, orange and brown

pigments known as carotenoids also present in the leaves There are also red and purple pigments called anthocyanins The red, purples and bronzes in some

trees derive from the sugar produced in the leaves being trapped by the colder

temperatures See also erythrophyll, phylloxanthin and xanthophyll.

The green of the avocado – usually in reference to the pulp rather than the skin;

also avocado-green Perhaps from the Spanish abocado – a delicacy – or the Aztec,

ahuacatl.

with much greater fastness than the aniline dyes Azo pigments include Hansa

yellow and diarylide yellow.

Bright blue; frequently used to describe the blue of the sky on a cloudless day

Originates from the Persian word al-lazhward meaning blue stone A literary term.

Also ‘azure blue’ See sky blue.